Steven Soderbergh Takes ‘The Bitter Pill’ Before His Final Film ‘Liberace’

Before the Thanksgiving break we got news that Steven Soderbergh would not be making his spy thriller The Man from U.N.C.L.E., after he couldn’t settle on the budget and casting with Warner Bros. There was word that he would be fitting in another production to fill up his time next spring, and now THR has revealed what it will be.

After working with Scott Z. Burns on Contagion and The Informant!, Soderbergh will team with him again for what is being described as a psychopharmacology thriller. Titled The Bitter Pill, for those not familiar with the topic, trusty Wikipedia tells us psychopharm “deals with the scientific study of the actions of drugs and their effects on mood, sensation, thinking, and behavior.” It sounds like the type of thing Soderbergh is an expert at conveying visually. After his virus thriller made me stay away from people for a few days, I look forward to how he will effect audiences with this one.

The Playlist has more details on the project, revealing that that Burns himself was previously set to direct the film, formerly known as The Side Effects. Back then he stated that the The Bitter Pill “deals with people and their moods” — more specifically, “how we as a society can’t tolerate sadness and what that makes us vulnerable to.” He went on to say “it’s a story where it’s like if someone were listening to the conversation you and I were having and thought ‘Hmmm, if that’s the way that society is working how can I manipulate that, how can I use that?’ And that’s what the movie’s about.”

The Bitter Pill is now being pitched to studios, with many interested. Soderbergh’s Haywire arrives in theaters this January, then he would begin production on Pill in the spring, while his male stripper movie Magic Mike arrives in June. That would be right around the time his biopic Liberace starring Matt Damon and Michael Douglas would begin shooting. Then, it is well-deserved retirement/sabbatical time for Soderbergh.